The Emirate’s Royal Family is about to offer Washington a Boeing 747-8, estimated by experts in US $ 400 million and described by US media as a “Palace in heaven”.
This proposal proposes possible conflicts of interestespecially since the US Constitution prohibits officials from accepting gifts “of a foreign king or state.”
Trump, who visited Catar on May 14 as part of a tour of the Middle East, unleashed a stir in his country by stating that he “would never be one of those who reject such an offer.”
The Catarí Prime Minister, Sheij Mohamed Bin Abdulrahmán Bin Jasim Al Thani, reduced importance to the controversy and declared CNN that He doesn’t know why he has become such an important news.
“It is a transaction between governments. It has nothing to do with the personal, on the American side or on the Catarí side, but with the Ministry of Defense and the Department of Defense, ”he said.
He also denied that Catar use the gift as a Way of influence in Trumpand said that rather he tries to help solve the problems of his American ally.
“Catar has always been a reliable partner for the United States, has always taken a step forward to help and support the United States, because we believe that This friendship has to be mutually beneficial For both countries, it cannot be a unidirectional relationship, ”said Sheikh Mohamed.
He added that, in any case, the offer is “Even under legal review”.
Trump foresees replace the two Boeing 747-200b current, which entered service in 1990.
Since he returned to power, Trump has complained several times about the High maintenance costs of these aircraft.
At the beginning of the year, the millionaire, discontent with the delays suffered by Boeing, said that “alternatives” are examined for the future presidential plane.
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In 2018, the American aerospace giant signed a contract to supply two 747-8 aircraft before the end of 2024 by US $ 3,900 million, equipped to transport the US President.
But the changes in the project, in particular those requested by Trump during his first mandate, the bankruptcy of a subcontractor and the Covid-19 pandemic, with the supply problems that he brought with him, have delayed the calendar.